> *Update*:> A step in the right direction:> [http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120126/00201617543/another-interesting-white-house-petition-reduce-term-copyright.shtml Another Interesting White House Petition: Reduce The Term Of Copyright] -- even though 56 years is still way too long and even though the president appears to be the wrong addressee.

Yesterday, I wrote about my thoughts on SOPA and how the USA’s legal arm had grown long indeed.

I agree that SOPA and PIPA are terrible. They will reduce our freedoms, increase legal uncertainty, make it harder to do business, make it harder to host user contributed content (forums, wikis, archives, social networking and more). The goal, of course: Big Hollywood’s Big SOPA Defeat.

But while the citizens of the USA fight stupid legislation (which the USA will then most probably try to impose on other countries as well), let us not forget that the current copyright regime is stupid, too. We need less protection. We need shorter protection. We need less punishment.

What really pained me: Sita Sings the Blues copyright issues: “The contract is $3,500 per song, and it would have cost them more than $3,500 for their lawyers to revisit the contract and modify it.” Also in the same vein as the film preservation issue: “Estimates vary, but it’s said that 98 percent of all culture is unavailable right now because of copyrights.”